Abstract: Abstract: Poly (ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate (PEGMA) was grafted onto polysulfone (PSF) ultrafiltration membrane using benzophenone (BP) as the initiator to improve the antifouling property. Polymer chain scission was suppressed by H-abstraction from methyl groups under long-wavelength UV irradiation (λ﹥300nm), which partly avoided the photodegradation of PSF ultrafiltration membrane. The effects of PEGMA concentration, UV irradiation time and BP concentration on grafting degree and the improvement of membrane antifouling properties were investigated. Attenuated total reflectance fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR/FTIR) was used to characterize the change of chemical composition. Static contact angle (CA) measurements showed that the hydrophilicity of PEGMA-modified PSF membranes was enhanced with the increase of grafting degree. The flux of pure water decreased slightly after modification, while the rejection to bovine serum albumin (BSA) increased. The improvement of antifouling property for PEGMA-modified membrane was accordant with the increase of grafting degree. The excellent antifouling property indicated PEGMA-modified membranes a potential application in ultrafiltration process.

Key words: ultrafiltration membrane, benzophenone, UV-irradiation, antifouling